The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI, http://www.ilri.org) works with partners worldwide to reduce hunger, poverty, disease and environmental degradation through innovations in animal agriculture. ILRI works primarily in sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia and has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, a principal campus in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and offices in West Africa, Southern Africa, and South, Southeast and East Asia. The institute’s research agenda focuses on livestock pathways out of poverty, specifically by helping poor people to keep their farm animals alive and productive, to use their animal stock to increase and sustain their whole-farm productivity, and to participate more fully in markets and other commercial enterprises. The evidence-based knowledge that ILRI and its partners generate enables a wealth of diverse organizations, from governments to development agencies to farming communities, to develop and adapt policies and technologies that serve to widen livestock pathways out of poverty, thus helping more than one billion people who rely on livestock for their livelihoods.

ILRI employs about 600 staff from over 40 nations, including over 100 internationally recruited staff, representing some 30 disciplines. Over half our international staff are from developing nations and 35% are female. An increasing number of scientists who work at ILRI are hired under joint appointments and other kinds of innovative institutional arrangements. (View a series of short filmed interviews of ILRI staff here: http://www.ilri.org/ilricrowd/ ) The ILRI Board of Trustees comprises 11 experts in livestock science, agricultural research and development or corporate management.

ILRI is one of 15 international agricultural research centres united in a CGIAR Consortium. Together with its broad networks of partners, these centres for the last four decades have conducted ground–breaking research, generated pro-poor technologies, helped conserve developing-country genetic resources and marshalled public and private research for policy and institutional innovations that support the poor. These CGIAR centres are funded by more than 60 government agencies, development banks, private foundations and regional and international organizations through a common CGIAR Fund.

In recent years, the CGIAR Consortium and Fund have repositioned themselves to build a more coordinated, cogent and relevant research response to the on-going global food, fuel, climate, financial and environmental crises and long-term challenges that directly threaten the livelihoods and lives of more than one billion people. Formed in April 2010, the Consortium and Fund are building global research programs that bring together the diverse mixes of research and development institutions and expertise that are needed to address these pressing, complex, agriculturally related, problems.

ILRI seeks to appoint a Deputy Director General, Research (DDG, Research) amidst change at many levels; this includes renewed and high-level interest in agricultural development; a dynamic global livestock sector, particularly in developing countries; continuing change within the CGIAR; evolving inter-institutional financial arrangements; a restructuring of ILRI’s senior management; and a rethink of ILRI’s long-term strategy. For the millions of the world's smallholders, the trajectory that mixed crop-livestock systems (and some pastoral ones) will take in future is not yet determined—and herein is both ILRI’s challenge and opportunity. The DDG Research will be expected to help lead development of the institute’s long-term strategy and to provide strategic scientific leadership across ILRI’s research programs.

The DDG Research provides intellectual and strategic scientific leadership to the Centre. The DDG Research works to ensure research excellence while enabling management processes and systems best able to facilitate ‘actionable knowledge’ and better evidence for decision-making and policies.

ILRI’s mandate is research on animal agriculture. ILRI’s current annual operating budget is over USD55 million. Together with the Director General, other members of ILRI’s senior management team, and the wider research and research services staff, the DDG Research sets the scientific trajectory and provides research oversight, particularly in strengthening ILRI’s science, building partnerships and ensuring operational efficiency and development impact.

Working with other senior leaders and centre managers, the DDG Research helps to mobilize resources at program, Centre and CGIAR levels.

Research program strategy
• Develop and implement a strategy for the centre’s research program in the context of the broader centre’s strategy. As part of that implementation, work with the Directors of Corporate Services and Human Resources to ensure that internal processes and systems are fit for purpose in terms of delivering on our mission.

Scientific leadership
• Provide scientific leadership and planning to implement and monitor an integrated research agenda consistent with the centre’s strategy and that of the CGIAR Strategy and Results Framework.

Institutional relevance and legitimacy
• Ensure maximum salience of ILRI’s research activities and programs to development challenges and our target beneficiaries, and coordinate the centre’s research for better coherence with and contribution to the CGIAR Research Programs.

External representation and articulation of centre research
• Engage with key stakeholders at national, regional and international fora to represent and articulate the rationale, role, innovation and impact of livestock research for development.

Staff supervision
• Supervise ILRI’s science leaders, including those directing CGIAR Research Programs or leading components of those programs, and oversee ILRI’s work in the Consortium’s global research portfolio.

Resource mobilisation and budgetary allocations
• Contribute substantially to designing and executing the centre’s resource mobilisation strategy, including building good donor relations, generating new initiatives, monitoring funding needs and gaps and overseeing the development of funding proposals.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE
• 10–15 years of experience in areas directly relevant to livestock research for development, with at least 5 years in developing countries, managing human resources and administration responsibilities at a senior level.

EDUCATION
• PhD in an area of animal bioscience relating to animal health, genetics or nutrition, preferably with a strong genomics/biotechnology background.
• Excellent scientific credentials, strong research management and communication skills.

TRAVEL
• The position is based at ILRI’s headquarters, in Nairobi, Kenya. Extensive travel to other countries and regions will be required.

TERM
• This position has an initial appointment of 3 years (subject to satisfactory nine-month probation period), with renewal contingent upon individual performance.

LANGUAGE
• Strong English language skills, including in presentations and writing.
• Ideally some working knowledge of French.

KEY COMPETENCIES
• A solid understanding of the role of science in development, particularly in terms of ‘actionable knowledge’ and evidence-based decision-making.
• Detailed knowledge of global livestock systems, in developing as well as developed countries, and how they relate to addressing the global challenges of hunger, poverty, climate change, human disease and environmental degradation.
• An established record of research achievement, including a substantive history of scientific publication in peer-reviewed journals.
• Excellent oral and written communication capabilities and interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrated ability to mobilise resources, foster and manage interdisciplinary, gender-inclusive, and multi-cultural research teams.
• Preferably, knowledge of the CGIAR system and its research and development partners, including the private sector.
• Ability to think strategically and to synthesize and distil key messages from complex issues.
• Skilled motivation and leadership of diverse and complex groups to bring out the best in both individuals and teams.
• Experience managing project-restricted rather than core-funded research.
• Demonstrated success in developing, funding and implementing large transformative project proposals would be highly valued.
• Experience in managing research in organisations going through substantial transition.